Wikipedia

SQR Store

The SQR Store, a.k.a. S.Q.R. Store, later simply SQR, was a department store in Downtown Anaheim, California, one of the largest in Orange County of its time. SQR stood for August E. Schumacher (1881–1948),[1] Wesley P. Quarton and Oscar H. Renner.

The S.Q.R. Store
Founded1907
FoundersAugust E. Schumacher, Wesley P. Quarton, Oscar H. Renner
SQR Store, Downtown Anaheim, May 1975
Map
General information
StatusDemolished
Location(1926–1978) 202 West Center ("old" Lincoln) Street, Anaheim, California
Coordinates33°50′08″N 117°54′58″W / 33.835420°N 117.916073°W / 33.835420; -117.916073
Demolished1978

First location (1907–1915)

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The store's original location was at the old Kroeger (Schumacher) Building, northeast corner of Center St. and Los Angeles St. (now Anaheim Blvd.). On March 14, 1907, Schumacher, Quenton and Renner bought the "Pioneer Store" from Charles "Sam" Federman who had already been operating it for 25 years since 1883. Schumacher[2] and Renner were clerks in the store at the time, which the Anaheim Gazette characterized as a "small country store". The three men were the only staff serving customers at that time, but by 1928 the store had grown to a staff of twenty.[3] Competition in these early days included the Falkenstein department store in the Mitchell block at the northwest corner of Center and Los Angeles,[4] which moved to new quarters at the new Casou Building in 1916, which replaced the oldest building in town at that time, the Langenberger adobe.[5]

Second location (1915–1926)

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In 1913, the SQR Store moved into a new building that Emil Dreyfus erected at 102 W. Center, southwest corner of Los Angeles, who tore down the existing building there that the Ahlborn & Raymond department store had vacated and which Stern Bros. had occupied before that.[6][3] where it would remain until 1926.[7]

Third location (1926–1978)

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Continuing to grow, in 1926, SQR bought the building at the southwest corner of Center and Lemon streets from the Knights of Pythias, tore down the Herman Dickel grocery and hardware building there, and built a new SQR Store, which would be its final location.[3]

Quarton left the business that year,[8] but the store name remained "S.Q.R."

By 1953 the store staff had grown to 80 strong.[8]

Decline of Downtown Anaheim

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In 1954 SQR started to face competition from new, modern and car-friendly shopping centers nearby, including:

While many American cities tried to revitalize and save their historic downtowns, Anaheim chose to demolish it. While at first, downtown merchants tried to attract shoppers by renovating their properties and the city provided off-street parking, it was not enough. In 1973, the city adopted a Redevelopment Plan "Alpha" which called for the demolition of nearly all the buildings in the 200-acre (81 ha) historic downtown and replacing them with a new downtown with a new civic center, the Anaheim Towne Center strip mall and office buildings. This process took a little more than fifteen years.[17][18]

The store advertised its imminent closing in September 1973, but Val Renner (widow of Oscar Renner's son Russell) reopened the first floor with her sons.[2] However, in 1978 the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency condemned the building and many other surrounding properties, and the store was razed in mid-1978. In place of the buildings that once formed the retail heart of Downtown Anaheim were built a strip mall anchored by a grocery store, a large parking area even larger than the strip mall, and a rerouted Lincoln Street.[19][20] As Lincoln has been rerouted, the southwest corner of old Center/Lincoln and Lemon is in the parking lot.

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    Downtown Anaheim, undated. SQR Store visible at left.
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    Closeup of SQR Store
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    South side of the 200 block of West Center Street, Anaheim, California, c.1924–1926, Valencia Hotel, intersection of Lemon Street, and S.Q.R. department store at left
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    Interior of the S.Q.R. department store, Anaheim, California, c.1900
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    Oscar H. Renner at S.Q.R., 1911
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    Oscar H. Renner c.1900
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    August Schumacher at S.Q.R., 1911
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References

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  1. ^ "A. E. Schumacher, Prominent Local Citizen, Passes". Anaheim Gazette. October 28, 1948. p. 1. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  2. ^ a b "Dates to 1883: SQR's Past Chronicled". Anaheim Bulletin. February 5, 1977. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "SQR store is twenty-one years old". Anaheim Gazette. March 15, 1928. p. 1. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  4. ^ "Addition to Mitchell Bldg cor Center & L.A. erected for the Falkenstein department store completed". The Register. February 14, 1911. p. 3. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  5. ^ "William Falkenstein Now in Cassou Bldg: One of the Finest and Largest Department Stores in County". Anaheim Gazette. September 14, 1916. p. 1. Retrieved March 25, 2024.
  6. ^ "Much Building And Many Moves". Anaheim Gazette. July 31, 1913. p. 1. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  7. ^ "A. E. Schumacher, Prominent Local Citizen, Passes (2)". Anaheim Gazette. October 28, 1948. p. 7. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  8. ^ a b "SQR Store Schedules Celebration of 46th Anniversary This Week". Anaheim Bulletin. March 10, 1953. p. 3. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  9. ^ "Hearty Congratulations Alpha Beta…first unit to open in the new East Anaheim Shopping Center". Anaheim Bulletin. March 26, 1954. p. 5. Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  10. ^ "10 Nov 1968, 90 – The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com" – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Boston Store Opening to End Expansion Phase". Los Angeles Times. November 10, 1968. p. 90 (Section F, page 8). Retrieved March 24, 2024.
  12. ^ "Anaheim Fetes New Broadway Store Opening". Los Angeles Times. October 15, 1955.
  13. ^ "Freeway Link Near Placentia Open Today". Los Angeles Times. April 10, 1956.
  14. ^ "Santa Ana's Fashion Square Makes Debut". Los Angeles Times. September 18, 1958. p. 41. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  15. ^ "Walker Scott Plans Opening of Major Store". Anaheim Bulletin. September 30, 1970. p. 23. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  16. ^ "$30 Million Shopping Center Set in Orange". Los Angeles Times. February 22, 1970. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  17. ^ "Redevelopment: A Tale of Two Cities' Successes: Anaheim". Times-Advocate. April 28, 1985. p. 11. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
  18. ^ "Times-Advocate Archive". April 28, 1985. Retrieved March 23, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. ^ "Alpha to Condemn 7 Sites". Anaheim Bulletin. January 27, 1978. p. 2. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
  20. ^ "Anaheim Panel Rejects Demolition Ban". Los Angeles Times. October 12, 1978. p. 43. Retrieved March 22, 2024.
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